As you can see from this clip on EW, tonight's episode reveals that Barney and Robin end up sleeping together, thus cheating on their respective partners. And based on this photo, both Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) are taking their sweet time telling Nora and Kevin the truth. We have a feeling they might keep this secret longer than they should. To be honest, we're more intrigued with the prospect of meeting Robin's kids.

I threw this exact question directly to executive producer Carter Bays when we chatted. His message? Wait for next week. “I can’t really say how [the Robin-baby drama is going to affect Ted] because that’s part of the story,” he says. “But I think Ted’s story this season has been sort of playing under the surface and it will start to come to the surface in the second half of the season.”

I know many of you weren’t too pleased with the way How I Met Your Mother dealt a hard hand to Robin in the midseason finale by revealing she can’t have children. And, as executive producer Carter Bays confirms to yours truly, we also know that Robin never becomes a mom, period. (So, no adoption, etc. — as I had assumed in my recap of the episode. Still, I know the confirmation hurts.)

But what does the new year hold for our dear friend? For one, Bays tells me the next new original episode, airing Jan. 2 (Yay! That’s not too terribly far!) will “reset the stage for Robin.” “In the last episode, she kind of talks about how no one is going to get in the way of her career, and we kind of see her career start to take off, actually,” he says. “She’s going to have some success in an unlikely way. There’s a nice symmetry to what ends up happening with Robin, career wise. There’s other little surprises along the way — that’s the big headline for Robin.”

And as far as how long the gang will be in the dark about her struggles? (Let’s face it, the pole vaulter thing won’t stick for long.) That’s something that will be cleared up fairly quickly, he says. “It just felt right that she wouldn’t tell anyone,” says Bays. “It felt weird having the big heart-to-heart moment with somebody — this is how we felt she would do it. That being said, obviously, the narrator knows about this, he’s telling the story. The secret will get out. It’s not even like it’s this huge secret, but it will come to light down the road.”

Guest star of the episode is Geraldine, who is a divorcee and neighbour to Lilly and Marshall.
A sucker for Barney's charms, she tries to avoid him as she still feels fragile from her divorce, something that shouldn't be difficult when Barney hears a rumour she is crazy!